Virginie Rebetez. La Levée des corps

With La Levée des corps, Swiss artist Virginie Rebetez continues her exploration of disappearance, memory and archives. Commissioned by the Valais State Archives in 2021, she took on the role of an archivist and spent two years examining the files of people who took their own lives between 1910 and 1960. These stories are often hidden, or that we have forced ourselves to forget – and yet, paradoxically, can be found in the Cantonal Archives in the form of written records of post-mortem examinations carried out by forensic pathologists, police investigations or reports from families. The artist immersed herself in these non-public documents, which she cleaned, photographed and digitised with the help of a conservator. With this project, Virginie Rebetez brings these stories out of silence and brings them to light through various media: photographs, reproductions of archive material, videos, a sculpture, as well as various sound recordings played throughout the space or to be listened to via headphones. – Anne Jean-Richard Largey, Director, La Ferme-Asile